recommendation on a good reliable PH meter

[King7]

I currently have a Milwaukee Instruments PH600AQ Ph Tester and it doesn't seem to work very well for me. It seems like I constantly have to calibrate it (like every week) Not to mention that it never comes close to my two other PH testers (one drip and one instant strip)

I'm willing to spend a little more and buy a good PH meter that I don't have to calibrate it constantly. (and something that I can trust)

Any recommendation?

I'm currently leaning toward the Hanna HI 98129 (PH and TDS) I do have a TDS meter now, but I wouldn't mind just having to use one tester.

http://www.hannainst.com/usa/prods2....ode=HI%2098129

thanks!

[HD Blazingwolf]

there is nothign wrong with calibrating.. that makes it accurate. test strips are very innacurate. titration / drop kits aren't very accurate either. if your basing your accuracy off those two measurments. the ph tester is probably best out of the three because u are calibrating it.

calibrate a drop kit if u wanna tst accuracy otherwise ur probably fine

the hanna is nice though. i like their stuff. i have a tds meter by them that has been used many times and is still not in need of calibrating, although i have tried

[King7]

thanks HD for your feedback. Looks like I really can't get away from calibrating...

anyone else have any experience with this meter that i found on ebay:
Multifunction 6-in-1 Water Tester http://www.yescomusa.com/product.php...tid=793&page=1

Or have anyone tried the The Bluelab Combo Meter?

thanks

[HD Blazingwolf]

to be accurate. no you can't

to me i've found testing to be almost pointless as long as things are clean and you aren' constantly trying to adjust ph and gh/kh with chemicals everthign will do fine

[King7]

After calibrating the PH meter, do you just rinse the tester in RO water before using it in the fish tank? Or should i let it sit in RO water for alittle bit before using it in my tank? Just curious if the calibration fluid will be harmful to the shrimp/plants.

[acitydweller]

not sure of the official answer, but i usually rinse off the calibrating liquid before placing the meter into the tank just to be safe.

[HD Blazingwolf]

i personally use tap water to rinse. that small amount of chlorine wont hurt even the most sensitive of shrimp even in a one gallon bowl

[bossman47]

Originally Posted by King7

After calibrating the PH meter, do you just rinse the tester in RO water before using it in the fish tank? Or should i let it sit in RO water for alittle bit before using it in my tank? Just curious if the calibration fluid will be harmful to the shrimp/plants.

I have the same meter. Their instructions say not to use distilled or DI water for storage. I have issues with mine not wanting to read a ph under 7. I calibrate it using 7 solution and it reads my saltwater tank fine but when I use it on my freshwater or straight RO water it gives me a reading of 9-9.6 I have not touched it since I opened it on day one.

[alexei]

Pay attention to how the manual says to store the probe. A lot of probes need to be stored in either storage solution or in 4.0 cal solution, if you store in RO or distilled you will ruin the probe. Always rinse the probe in fresh (tap) water after calibrating/taking out of storage solution/taking a reading etc. A clean probe is a happy probe, seriously making sure your probe is clean is probably the most important things you can do to help keep you probes working well.
As far as a recommendation for a pH meter, I like the Hanna 98103 it's super accurate (.01 resolution) and has 2 point calibration. Plus the probes are fairly cheap if you need to replace the probe.

[King7]

Hi All,

thanks for the replies. I guess I need to learn how to take better care of the pH meter. It just drove me nuts that I got 3 different readings from three different types of pH tester. I just got my 7.0 calibration fluid today. Hopefully it will give me some accurate reading after I calibrate it. However, for some reason I have a feeling the pH tester that I have now is already "expired".

[pejerrey]

I bought a "monitor" from eBay, it's quicker than my pen. Both digital.

I find that to get an accurate reading with any pen digital ph meter, I have to stir around a lot to get any bubbles out an wait like 45 seconds.

In my opinion is better to have a couple.

Once you have reached stable readings there is no need to continually measure unless there is something wrong going on.

I usually test with both testers if I have to.

What I really I continually monitor is TDS( once a week). I find this tester way more important for my comfort than a ph tester as it doesn't change as TDS does.

Hope this helps, I'm a newbie.

[GeToChKn]

Originally Posted by pejerrey

I find that to get an accurate reading with any pen digital ph meter, I have to stir around a lot to get any bubbles out an wait like 45 seconds.

Yup, I stir mine around and then let it sit for a min in the tank first to get a good reading.